Veni Vidi Vici
It was birthed onto the bustling production line of a lifeless factory floor. Inauspicious beginnings to say the least. Mothered by cold, mechanical arms and fathered by intense, scorching flame, the locket braved its entrance into the world with steely resolve and was all the prettier for it. Its skin was sterling silver, with ever so delicate machine-engraved swirls marking its lustrous surface. Its skeleton was well-oiled hinges and chain links that moved without friction or discord with its neighbours. Its body was the stylized heart charm that, of course, looked nothing like a true human heart, because who would want that? But while pretty, no one could rightfully say that its make nor its genesis were unique. Far from it. In fact, this particular model had been flagged as highly desirable after its commercial success in the previous season. When you combined that fact with the upcoming money-making bonanza that was Valentine’s Day, it was little wonder that the locket happened to have thousands of siblings, not just alongside it on the factory floor, but also all around the country. Some destined to be loved, some to be worn before being cast away, many to be lost or stolen, even to be destroyed. But for all the divergent paths of its siblings, none had quite the journey ahead of them that our little locket had.